How do you uncurl curled foils and prevent foils from curling?

[GGoober]

Hey guys, I've been foiling out some decks and I'm having issues where the foils (originally flat) have started curling. I know this is usually a humidity issue, but I would like some advice on:

1) How do you prevent foils from curling in the first place? (Double sleeves, silica gel to absorb moisture?)
2) How do you uncurl curled foils without damaging the foils?

Thanks!

[Malchar]

I just bend them back. It doesn't work all that great. I endeavor to have all my cards foil, so then it probably won't matter.

[jandax]

Sleeve the cards then tape them to a 2L soda bottle face out. Give them 12-48 hours to reset, depending on how bad they bow.

[hyc8028]

The easiest way I found is put the card in the penny sleeve, then put the whole thing inside a toploader and let it sit for a while in some dark dry place. When I need to use it in the deck, then I take it out. Once I am done using it, I put it back in the toploader where it belongs. It works for me so far.

[GGoober]

Cool thanks for the advice, but how do people prevent foils from curling in the first place? I'm pretty sure the main goal is to try to prevent foils from curling in the first place. My friend mentioned double sleeving helps (is this true/really effective? because I hate double sleeving and playing with EDH-like decks). He also mentions using silica packets that absorb moisture but we both have not tried that out yet.

[death]

The easiest way is while the card is in sleeves (not penny or perfect fit), position its back (sideways) against the straight edge of a table or kitchen counter top. Then unroll the card by pushing backwards in the opposite direction of the curl. Use a gentle sliding motion until the curl is gone.

I think moisture making foils curl is a myth, although my storage box is filled with silica :) This subject has been discussed to death. I hope this helps.

[GGoober]

Death, so do your foils still curl in a box filled with silica? Lol, I didn't really understand the last line.

Maybe we should all storm into WotC and demand them to improve their foiling process :P

[cdr]

Curling happens primarily from humidity, and heat makes it worse. Not a "myth".

Any significant curling can't really be "undone", either. Physical changes have occurred to the card. You can bend it back some, maybe, but that isn't undoing it.

WotC ships judge foils to GPs/PTs in loose packets, and they inevitably curl in transit. Ticks me off.

[death]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn4z5nM8yck

[I am the brainwasher]

I can just agree on the fact that if a card once got "curled" it is nearly impossible to bend it back to its usual flatness for a long term.
The best thing to prevent that from the beginning is to keep foils strictly away from even the slightest warmth and direct sunlight (!!!) in a box which is not permeable to both air and any type of humidity.
Best thing is to put them (the deck) in a sort of lunchbox and storage them in the lower parts of a board/etc. which isnt glared by sunlight directly. Sounds weird but does the job pretty well.
When you bring tha Pimp to a tourney, packing these small salt-bags which are normally in fresh bought shoes in the deckbox can help a lot, cause the cards might pick up sweat or other humidity over the tourney due to normal usage.
Kinda Captain obvious but I hope that helps a bit.

[sdematt]

If you're living in a really humid climate, I would suggest possibly investing in a desiccator. Basically, you can pick up some CaCl2 or Na2HCO3 and put in the bottom of a jar, then place a wire rack for cooling cookies inside the container. Then, place your deck inside, and seal the jar with a tight fitting lid. It will get rid of the moisture, but I can't make guarantees about unwarping totally, but it will solve your humidity problem. But, keep the lid on at all times, as your drying agents are hygroscopic (absorb water).

Hopefully this helps?

-Matt

[dahcmai]

I have a fairly tight fitting ultra pro case (one of the older plastic ones) that I just sleeve the cards and have them against each other to the point where they have no room to bend. Sitting in there, they never bend. Moisture is the enemy, that's fairly obvious. Keeping them dry in a case where they are forced to be flat works for me.

[DownSyndromeKarl]

WotC ships judge foils to GPs/PTs in loose packets, and they inevitably curl in transit. Ticks me off.

I wouldn't say it "ticks me off", but it is kind of silly. Sleeving them does take away the appearance of the warp. The last Land Tax I got looked like a Pringle, but the rest were fine. Makes me wonder if some of the warping issues with Judge promos originate in the warehouse

[DragoFireheart]

Don't buy foils.

[dontbiteitholmes]

Don't buy foils.

Yeah, I never liked foils personally. I see the appeal but as far as my use is concerned...
1: They curl
2: An SP foil looks like shit, only mint foils look good. Normal cards wear better.
3: No foil duals, so the quest can never be completed.

[sdematt]

But you can go Beta. Maybe it isn't foil, but FBB or non-WB will still look great.

-Matt

[cdr]

I wouldn't say it "ticks me off", but it is kind of silly. Sleeving them does take away the appearance of the warp. The last Land Tax I got looked like a Pringle, but the rest were fine. Makes me wonder if some of the warping issues with Judge promos originate in the warehouse

They use a fulfillment company for direct mailings, but the ones for events are actually packed at WotC HQ. The ones individually mailed are the only ones you'll see that aren't curled since they're tightly packed. You'd think they could come up with a better way of packing them for events, but it's probably not much of a priority.

[death]

1: They curl
2: An SP foil looks like shit, only mint foils look good. Normal cards wear better.
3: No foil duals, so the quest can never be completed.

1: can be remedied as shown above
2: normal cards can easily get wet/dirty/stained, foils are easy to keep clean.
3: same can be said about Workshop/Bazaar, pre-Mercadian Masques. All foils isn't necessary.
4: value of original print foils increase exponentially compared to non-foils.

[HAVE HEART]

Don't buy foils.

This! Should not have taken a million posts for the best solution to be posted.

[DownSyndromeKarl]

That actually doesn't work. Just because you don't buy them, doesn't mean they won't curl. Also, not buying a curled foil, does not un-curl it.

[Nizmox]

I feel I have something to add on the topic. I love foils and live in Australia which is a very humid climate.

What I do is every time I finish playing with a deck containing foil cards I make sure I put them front to back, front to back... This seems to be by far the best technique to prevent warping and I have tried a fair few uncurling methods. Essentially the curling of any card is being offset by the curling of the other card.

Admittedly it doesn't keep them perfect but its certainly good enough to mix them with non foils and not easily notice the difference. It is a bit of a pain to do this every time you finish playing, but in my opinion worth it.

I scoured the net for decent uncurling methods and nothing really worked except this.

Hope it helps!

[Richard Cheese]

Move to a drier climate. My foil commons were curled all to hell in my big box when I lived in Houston. After a year in Denver, the curl is still noticeable, but has reduced significantly. Typing that made me realize that someone needs to make humidity gauges out of Magic cards.

[MattH]

I love foils and live in Australia which is a very humid climate.

lol I know you mean on the coasts, where everyone lives, but it's funny because Australia taken as a whole is one of the driest places on earth ;D